Jesse Jackson Jr. sentenced to two and half years in prison

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been sentenced to two and half years of prison for treating his campaign fund for his personal use and spending over $750,000 from his funds to pay for personal items like spa and televisions.

Sandi Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr.’s wife was also sentenced to one year of prison for her involvement in the scheme. She is also a former Chicago alderman.

Mr. Jackson represented Chicago district for more than a decade and had only resigned last year. An investigation of his finances by the FBI found him to be guilty of this crime.

During his trial he broke down several times and admitted his wrongdoings to the U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson and said, “I misled the American people. I misled the House of Representatives.”

The lawmaker wept as he talked about the pain and embarrassment he has caused his family, particularly his father, civil-rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. He said that he wanted to apologize to his dad and to his mother as well.

During the trial on Wednesday, the ex-lawmaker begged the judge to spare his wife any prison time. The judged agreed to waver the two sentences, with Mr. Jackson going to prison first so that one person stays outside to raise the two children, ages 9 and 13.

But the judge criticized Ms. Jackson for seeking to get the sentence wavered solely on the basis of the sake of her children. The judge told her that she did this intentionally and that she should have known the consequences.